The latest events regarding the migrant ship Aquarius pushed us to take a firm, clear and univocal public stand.

In our global network, there are innovative and successful solutions that effectively and efficiently address the topic of migration (see the Hello Europe initiative). Despite the fact that civil society has demonstrated a great capacity to find solutions to tackle the problems underlying migration and integration, spaces remain lacking to allow these solutions to grow, connect and scale more quickly. In addition, part of the institutional realm has initiated extraordinary work to provide infrastructure and financing mechanisms to create a more welcoming Europe, though there is a need for allies to develop more concrete policies and scale them.

All our efforts are inspirited by the vision of a society governed by democratic values, founded on the rule of law and open to diversity: a laboratory for discussion and exchange. Leaving 629 migrants at sea, on the contrary, shows a confused country, that is not looking towards the future.

Migration today represents a global challenge that we want to address because in this challenge we identify the solution. Immigrants can be impactful changemakers, able to activate those empathy-based approaches that we all yearn for and want to educate future generations in.